University of Notre Dame researchers said the health shock from the opioid epidemic in the United States is “currently a major crisis in people's lives.”
And it definitely is. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of drug overdose deaths in the United States will exceed 100,000 in 2022, of which approximately 83,000 were opioid-related. Over the past two decades, the opioid overdose death rate in the United States has increased at an alarming rate, claiming more than 645,000 lives. In that same 20-year period, approximately 280,000 people died from prescription opioid overdoses.
Vicki Barone, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Notre Dame, and her co-author Carolina Arteaga, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Toronto, researched the origins and development of the opioid epidemic, and researched the origins and development of the opioid epidemic. Unregulated sales lead to increased access to prescription opioids and subsequent overdose death rates. The two researchers then tracked the long-term impact of opioid overdose deaths on the American political landscape, finding an increase in conservative beliefs and support for Republican candidates. did.
Their research culminated in two research papers completed this year: “A Tragedy in the Making: The Origins and Deep Ripples of the Opioid Epidemic” and “The Political Consequences of the Opioid Epidemic.”
In the first study, “Tragedy Made,” researchers looked at regions of the country that had high rates of opioid prescriptions when they first came on the market in the mid-1990s. As a result, Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin (a prescription opioid that is a very powerful and addictive painkiller), is using the drug to treat pain caused by cancer, which is associated with high cancer mortality rates. It was discovered that the company intentionally and aggressively targeted the region for the marketing of its drugs.
Unpublished court records extracted from a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma reveal that the drug company is expanding its marketing efforts from the cancer pain market to the much larger non-cancer pain market in the same geographic region, according to researchers. It is said that he showed a strategy for This means that doctors and patients not involved in cancer exposure or treatment will be targeted by OxyContin promotions and ultimately have access to a powerful prescription opioid to treat moderate and chronic pain. So the researchers said.
In the years following the initial marketing campaign, Barone and Arteaga calculated that the area they targeted suffered from more fatal opioid drug overdoses than any other town in the nation. Focusing on areas that already had high cancer death rates, researchers found that deaths from prescription opioids increased by 55 percent and deaths from all opioids increased by 33 percent. As noted in the study, the CDC determined that opioid prescribing peaked in 2012. However, the prescription opioid death rate rose for another five years, reaching its highest point in 2017, and 2021 marked the highest number of opioid deaths on record.
Researchers explained that the opioid crisis quickly spiraled out of control due to several factors. First of all, it was initially not fully understood how addictive opioids were and how dangerous it was to prescribe and use them without stricter dosing parameters. Secondly, misinformation regarding their use and the danger of addiction has been spread. Third, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration lacked oversight over how drugs were marketed. And finally, once drugs hit the black market, there was no control over how or how much drugs were distributed within the community.
Building on research from their first study, Barone and Arteaga found a link between the opioid epidemic and political perceptions, and the “health shock” of drug overdose deaths occurring in affected communities among members. The focus of the second study shifted to whether the choice of Vote.
The researchers focused on the 1982-2020 period, which included the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections and Congressional elections within that period, and found that regions experiencing epidemic-related health shocks and increases in Republican support. documented the causal relationship between and its values.
Specifically, the researchers found that the opioid epidemic increased Republican vote shares and began flipping elections in the early 2000s. Areas hit harder by the opioid epidemic saw increased support for Republican candidates and higher Republican vote shares, resulting in Republicans gaining additional seats in the House of Representatives from 2012 to 2020 and Barone explained that this led to an increase in They tend to have more conservative views.
“The opioid epidemic has shaped the views of the American public in terms of who voters support,” Barone said. “And from election research data, we see real shifts toward more conservative beliefs in areas most affected by the shock of high opioid mortality rates.”
“The opioid epidemic has shaped Americans' views in terms of who voters support. And election survey data shows that areas most affected by the shock of high opioid mortality rates are more conservative We're seeing real changes in beliefs.”
These effects are explained by changes in voters' views, rather than their composition, the study said. For example, when voters were asked what they thought about abortion, gun control, and immigration policy, those most exposed to the effects of the opioid epidemic were more likely to identify with conservatives.
The researchers offered one possible explanation for this change. That's because the Republican approach to curbing the opioid epidemic was perceived to be more effective than the Democratic approach. Republicans support stronger law enforcement to curb drug trafficking and crime, while Democrats support harm reduction policies and increased funding for opioid abuse treatment and recovery.
It is important to note that the original opioid epidemic has morphed into the fentanyl epidemic in recent years. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that can be deadly in small amounts and is found on the streets rather than prescribed. Barone explained that the idea of keeping these particular drugs completely out of the country resonated with the public, increasing support for the Republican directive.
“The Republican response was generally more appealing to the public,” Barone said. “And in places where people were exposed to infectious diseases, it made more sense in people's minds.”
The co-authors said the potential impact of an increased supply of prescription opioids extends beyond increased overdose deaths, impacting communities in health, economic, and social dimensions, “and that It shows how these communities continue to be shaped through their impact on livelihoods.” Elected officials and intergroup perceptions. ”
contact: Tracy DeStazio, Associate Director of Media Relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu
